Silicon photonics is a fast growing technology, where the demand for optical solutions meets silicon chip fabrication techniques. Typically, fabrication of optical components is carried out on a silicon-on-insulator wafer with a support layer of silicon, and intermediate insulator layer and a silicon device layer located on top of the insulator layer.
In general, when designing optical components, there is a desire to avoid complicated fabrication techniques and the associated fabrication timescales. There is also a desire to avoid components with large footprints.